A survey investigated the attitudes of educated Greeks about possible modifications in the orthographic representation of written Greek. Subjects were 82 students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts program in English Language and Literature offered at the University of Cyprus. The subjects were administered a 20-item Likert-type questionnaire measuring attitudes toward a hypothetical orthographic reform scheme and how it may affect reading comprehension, the "character" of the language, the structure and semantics of the language, its acquisition by native an nonnative speakers, and Greek thinking and national identity. The proposed language changes included retention of several orthographic symbols and elimination of a number of others. Results indicate the respondents' concerns, in declining order, were related to the difficulties that such a reformation would create in finding the "etymology" of many Greek words. They point out the difficulties that will be created in distinguishing between pairs of words. Participants also were concerned that the historical continuity or the link between ancient and modern Greek would be lost. Other concerns were the expenses involved in reprinting older books, effect on the language's character, distinguishing between loan words and authentic Greek words, and the effect on Greek national identity and linguistic identity. They did feel the new system would remove obstacles to the learning of Greek by foreigners. Contains nine references. (MSE)

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